BRIAN Bell introduces his manufactured fictional band, inspired by a short story and created in the studio with fellow songwriter Gordon Grahame.

“I’m a great believer in albums as an art form that deserves your full attention from start to finish. I love American records from the late 1960s like Elephant Mountain by The Youngbloods, Headquarters by The Monkees, Younger than Yesterday by The Byrds, Forever Changes by Love and Last Time Around by Buffalo Springfield. A lot of 1960s albums have short musical segues between tracks so we made sure we got a couple of those into the album.”

“We recorded the EP which later developed into a full album in 2013 in Gordon’s home studio. While we were recording it, we were very much imagining ourselves being in California with Roger McGuinn mop-tops, brown suede fringe jackets and 12-string Rickenbackers.”

“Gigging is a weird one. I loved the vibe of The Raving Beauties just being this strange imaginary band that only existed in my short story The Unsung Classic and in Gordon’s home studio. If we get a good response and there are willing and able musicians out there, I’d love to play some shows.” “I’d love to do another album with Gordon. He’s an amazingly creative musician and producer. I think we could make an even better record next time.”

l Find out more...

The Raving Beauties singles Oh Lover and Some Girls are available on iTunes. The self-titled album is released in August on Brighton-based At The Helm Records.

l Visit www.atthehelmrecords.com/the-raving-beauties.php